Andrew Jarosh
December 18, 2001Second to Ty Cobb, Hornsby was a great player but a crude, coarse, unpopular manager and coach in all his years after he retired from playing. The Mets were his last major league gig; he died the following year. You should read his bio; tons of talent, a thimble-full of people skills.

clubhouse report
May 14, 2002I knew '62 was rough year for the Mets but who knew that two of their coaches died that winter? Neither Hornsby or Red Kress made it to opening day '63. Yikes.

johnny Met
June 23, 2002The first edition of the '62 Met yearbook had a great photo of Hornsby holding a bat like a rifle. Alas, midway through the season, a second edition was issued without the photo. He's not in the official '62 Met team photo, either. All the other coaches are.

Richard Kissel
September 14, 2002As my 10 year old son tells me, if there was never a Babe Ruth, the twenties would have been known as "The Age of Hornsby." He is arguably the greatest righthanded hitter that ever lived. A lot of people wouldn't realize this, but he has the highest slugging percentage in NL history (thanks to my son for this info).

mets
May 29, 2003Hornsby was an outstanding hitter. He hit .400 multiple times. Some people claim Robbie Alomar is the best offensive second baseman of all time. They should research Mr. Hornsby. Hornsby would not go to the movies because he believed that it would ruin his batting eye. I don't think it would have mattered with the 62 Mets team.

Tim S
June 27, 2003Casey had few rules that first spring training. One was "Play Good" and another "don't wear your spikes in the clubhouse". It soon became obvious that Hornsby wasn't going to get along with Stengel because he kept wearing his spikes on the carpeted clubhouse floor, tracking mud and dirt inside.

Joe Figliola
June 30, 2003Great hitter, but seemed to be a real pain in the ass towards his teammates. I read a book called "The Giants of the Polo Grounds," where he was ordering his fellow mates to do things his way. Freddie Lindstrom, a great shortstop from that era, told Hornsby that "(John) McGraw told us to (make a play) this way." Hornsby replied that they should listen to him when McGraw wasn't around.

He also was involved in the final play of the 1926 World Series. The Cardinals player/manager tagged out Babe Ruth when he tried to steal second. I think that's the only time a World Series ended with a caught stealing.

Am curious to learn how the Mets got along with him. Anyone?

Jonathan Stern
March 6, 2005What a beautiful thing! The man who ended the 1926 World Series by catching Babe Ruth on a stolen base attempt coaching the 1962 Mets. Even then, there was justice in Metsland.

Said Hornsby about the Bambino: "I'll always remember putting the ball on him. He didn't say a word. He didn't even look around or up at me. He just picked himself off the ground and walked away."

original mets
June 3, 2005I have just finished reading the book Spirit of St. Louis by P. Golenbock. Mr. Golenbock portrays Mr. Hornsby as the greatest right handed hitter in NL history but as far as his personality was concerned he was a loser. He was addicted to gambling, lost numerous managerial jobs because of this (with the Browns) and got along with no one. How could the Mets hire this guy, even though he was a great hitter? They say he never went to the movies because he was afraid he would hurt his eyes. Who would go to the movies with this guy anyway?

PAT PIZZONIA
July 25, 2005It seems the only reason "the Rajah" was hired to coach the Mets in 1962 had everything to do with name recognition for this fledgling franchise. This was (and IS) a National League town, and Hornsby (personality not withstanding) was a name that most serious fans would certainly recall with awe. His .424 batting season was just 37 years earlier, thus still within many people's lifetime and memory range back in '62. I cannot vouch for his ability as a hitting instructor, but the club's offensive output that year was actually pretty good. However, the other aspects of the "Original Mets" game skills, personalities, and exploits will always be recognized as functioning somewhat "below" championship level- 60 1/2 games to be exact!

Shickhaus Franks
April 12, 2007In the 1992 baseball movie "A League Of Their Own", in the scene where Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) is reminding Bitty Schram that "There's No Crying In Baseball"; he also reminds her that "Rogers Hornsby was my manager and he called me a talking pile of pig @$". That and I read in Ken Burns "Baseball" book that once during a game, an umpire informed of an opposing pitcher that "Mr. Hornsby will let you know when I call Strike One".

Mark Corrao
December 20, 2008Hornsby died in 1963 of a heart attack after cataract surgery. He is buried in the Hornsby Bend cemetery east of Austin, Texas.